There’s really no reason to not make this chicken gumbo. It’s a comforting, satiating, one-pot dinner loaded with chicken, sausage, peppers, and tomatoes with a spicy (but not too spicy) Creole accent that can be made in less than an hour in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot. Or you can simply let it simmer all day on the stovetop or in the slow cooker.
☞ Like Instant Pot recipes? Try these:
Creole Chicken Gumbo
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup mild vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 medium (about 12 oz) red, orange, and/or yellow bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
- 2 medium (about 3 1/2 oz) celery stalks, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium (about 8 oz) yellow onion, diced
- One (14-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or more or less to taste
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 cups canned chicken broth or homemade chicken stock
- 1 pound andouille sausage (3 links), halved and sliced 1/2-inch (12-mm) thick
- 2 pounds skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
- 3 cups cooked rice, for serving
- Fresh parsley, for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, whisk together the oil and flour, and cook until the mixture turns golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Stir in the bell peppers, celery, garlic, onion, tomatoes, oregano, thyme, basil, Creole seasoning, chili powder, cayenne, and a large pinch each of salt and pepper. The roux will bubble and thicken up immediately into a paste that coats the vegetables.
- Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the broth, sausage, and chicken. Bring the gumbo to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and gently simmer until the chicken is literally falling apart, at least 3 hours or up to all day (the longer the better as the flavors will meld).
- Skim the fat off the surface of the gumbo. Remove and discard the chicken bones.
- Divvy the rice among bowls and ladle the gumbo over the rice. Garnish with parsley. Store any leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
How To Make This In Your Slow Cooker, Pressure Cooker, Or Instant Pot
Pressure Cooker Or Instant Pot Variation To make this chicken gumbo in the pressure cooker or Instant Pot use the sauté function to cook the roux as described in step 1 of the recipe above. Stir in the remaining ingredients, except the rice and parsley, lock the lid in place, and cook over high pressure for 35 minutes. Release the pressure, remove the lid, and discard the bones. Use the sauté function to bring the gumbo to a boil and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve over rice, garnished with parsley. Slow Cooker Variation To make this chicken gumbo in the slow cooker, follow step 1 in the recipe above, then add the roux, and all remaining ingredients except the rice and parsley, to the slow cooker. Cover and cook until the chicken is falling off the bones, 6 to 8 hours on low, or 5 to 6 hours on high. Uncover, discard the chicken bones, then cook on high until the gumbo thickens slightly, 20 to 30 minutes. Serve over rice, garnished with parsley.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Wow. I do not claim to be a gumbo expert; nor have I made it before, but this was really slurpable. This gumbo was very enjoyable, especially for the minimal work put into it. It had great smokiness and levels upon levels of flavor. I love how the heat or burn is slow and creeps up on you in the back of your throat.
The Creole seasoning plus the 1 teaspoon of cayenne and the chili powder were perfect for me–it wasn’t necessary for me to go to 2 teaspoons. I used really good chicken stock from the butcher shop with lots of gelatin, so I’m sure this added to the silky richness of the stew.
I also liked that this gumbo did not turn out super thick and that it was not in the least gummy. I cooked my roux to a penny color. I’ve heard the darker the better for roux, but I didn’t want to push it too far and burn it. I was therefore careful with the heat and initially had it on medium and then slightly lowered the heat toward the end. I also kept stirring pretty regularly.
The peppers became very sweet and pleasant through slow cooking—I’m glad that the gumbo recipe didn’t use green pepper, as they’re too bitter for my liking.
Everything went into my slow cooker on high for 6 hours and this timing was just right. We are very much looking forward to eating this for a few days!
I’m not an experienced gumbo maker or eater, but if this is what it’s supposed to taste like, then I see a lot more gumbo in my future. The layers of flavor in this dish are endless and the result is a truly soul-satisfying meal.
I used the stove-top method. This made a LOT.
I made this recipe in my Instant Pot and you would never know I didn’t cook my roux low and slow on the stove. I loved the flavor of this gumbo but the others said they wish I had used less cayenne pepper (I only used 1 teaspoon).
I was a little concerned about the bell peppers being sliced instead of diced. I had visions of trying to eat long strips of pepper but they cooked down and were perfect. I felt it took longer to get everything prepped than it took to get it going in the Instant Pot.
I did the slow cooker method and by the time the gumbo was ready, my kitchen smelled absolutely wonderful and we couldn’t wait to dive in. We were richly rewarded. Having cooked all day, the gumbo had layer upon layer of flavor and the chicken thighs and andouille added just the right amount of body and oomph. There was a nice amount of heat but not so much as to send us running to the fridge for milk.
Aside from chopping the veggies, the recipe was crazy simple. Next time I might saute the meat before dropping it into the slow cooker to give it a little crisp. Especially the sausage. I’d never made a roux with oil before so I was curious how that would turn out and it was fine.
The gumbo was thick and just so flavorful. I’ve never been to New Orleans but when I imagine what chicken gumbo from there must be like, this is it.
I made this on the stovetop and it was absolutely delicious. The recipe was easy to follow. I made my own Cajun seasoning blend using spices on hand. I can’t wait to make this again.
Superb, Julie!
I made the instant pot version of this last night and it was excellent. Everyone loved it. The only thing I changed was to cook the roux longer (on the saute normal setting). It didn’t seem to be getting the deep color it needed to. I gave it an extra 10 minutes but then had to proceed due to dinner time constraints. I used a little less cayenne than called for because we have one timid eater. But there was tabasco on the table for the rest of us. To the other commenter: please note that this calls for Creole seasoning, not Cajun. So there likely isn’t much, if any, cayenne in it. And most chili powders are pretty mild and have ancho, not cayenne, in them. I thought the spice/herb mix in this was really quite good.
Amy, I’m delighted you enjoyed it!!
Who doesn’t like shortcuts? I do, but some things, like chili powders and cajun seasoning need to rethought. Most chili powders contain cumin, cayenne or other red chili, along with garlic and onion powders and paprika. Cajun season is also likely to contain cayenne, oregano, thyme, paprika, and black pepper.
So in this recipe, you call for dried herbs, yet the same dry herbs are in the cajun and chili seasonings.
I think it would be better to not buy commercial blends (especially considering how much of the commercial blends are usually salt), and just include the herbs and spices by themselves in the recipe. I think this would be better and more economical cooking.
Bkhuna, I agree that it can be more economical to use what you have on hand, and appreciate your consideration! Although for a lot of readers who don’t happen to already have those ingredients on hand, it’s more economical for them to buy a single container of a blend. It’s impossible to keep everyone happy. And a lot of those seasoning blends that are New Orleans style, whether Cajun or Creole, in my experience, actually are more about spices rather than herbs, and so I think the dried herbs are there in the recipe as sorta a safeguard. Just trying to explain. Always appreciate your insights!